


Sacrifice

by HiMiTSu



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst, Blood, Character Death, M/M, Unhappy Ending, inspired by a tumblr post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 11:52:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14401596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiMiTSu/pseuds/HiMiTSu
Summary: Inspired by this tumblr post bytheronancycle"You all laugh at stief’s quote tweet about how ritually sacrificing your date is a trc ship mood but none of you will write the angsty fic where Adam is supposed to sacrifice Ronan for some magical purpose…. cowards "





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> This is as angsty as you would think, so beware.

Adam’s hand is trembling. His whole body is shaking, but then it might also be the earthquake wrecking through the forest. The ground won’t stop rushing from under his feet, making him stumble and almost lose his balance and grab onto the nearest tree to hold himself up.

It’s hard to breathe. Air is ice cold in his lungs, scratching from the inside with every hasty inhale. Wind tears through the tree crowns, their rustling deafeningly loud even with the background of thunder in the distance. There are words in that cacophony of sound, Latin, panicked and urgent, begging and demanding – so many voices, Adam can’t tell them apart, can’t pick out one phrase from the whole current – he doesn’t need to anyway. He knows what they are asking of him.

The ground trembles again. An old tree fall in the distance – a death of a giant. Its final call resonates through the forest. Adam glances up, desperate for some kind of an answer.

But he has an answer, just… “Not this, I’m begging you, not this…”

It’s raining. A storm covers the small town, the plain, the forest – heavy clouds light up with such frequency it feels like daylight. Still, the tree crowns protect him from the downpour, a small blessing and even that he curses, because then he has to admit that the wetness on his cheeks is tears, and if he agrees to that, then everything is lost…

“This can’t be happening!” His voice is scratchy and rough, a sob tearing out at the last syllable. The trees do not reply. The trees are dying.

The forest is being swallowed by wave of such magnitude; Adam loses hope of getting any help from it.

The lay line got out of control. Its power is growing by the second, completely erratic, affecting the earth and the sky in equal measure. Adam wonders if it has already reached the city. He can’t imagine what destruction it would bring.

Too much power.

_At first, Adam didn’t understand. In those first moments when he and Ronan rushed into the forest, he didn’t know what to do._

_“Too much power”, Ronan had said, his expression pinched. Adam was looking to him for the answers._

_Ronan swore. His eyes scanned the forest, trying to find the source, trying to see the reason…But there was no reason. It was an overload: the lay line was like a wire fed too much energy, it was blowing up everything on its way. The incredible outcome of magic was spreading and bringing ruin to the land, with every moment the radius went bigger and the viciousness grew._

Another quake brings Adam to his knees. He reaches out to catch his fall, both hands in the dirt taking part of the impact – it still hurts, still knocks the breath out of him, but what is the most terrifying is lifting his head to see the object right before him. Adam has dropped it earlier and now it is staring back, accusing and angry.

_“Do you have your knife?” Ronan had asked. Adam, thrown by the unexpected question, reached to the back pocket of his jeans. A pocketknife, gift from Ronan, one that he used for small tasks around the house. It weighted heavy in his palm as he showed it to Ronan._

There is blood on it. Adam’s gaze fixes on the crimson dripping into the earth; metal blade glints with a flash of lightning from overhead. His fingers dig into the dirt so hard, he does not know whether it’s the aftershock of the earthquake or is it just his whole body trembling with the shock of what he had done.

_“No, you take it.” Ronan had closed Adam’s fingers around the handle, pressing his palm on top.  Unlike Adam’s, his hand was steady. A crow screeched overheard; Chainsaw, disturbed from her perch on an oak brunch took to the air. But the wind was too strong for her to fight it for long and she dove low, under the cover of leaves. Ronan didn’t take his eyes off Adam. There was a message there. One that Adam didsn’t want to read but Ronan was nothing if not stubborn._

The ground is wet under his hands. Adam pushes up to his knees, past the place where he dropped the knife. Unable to face it, he turns away.

Two paces to the right there is a shape lying in the web of oak tree roots. Dark feathers, ruffled from the rough flight, stick in all directions. From where Adam is kneeling, he can see the slow steady rise of them as Chainsaw breathes. It looks like a soothing rhythm.

Adam buries his head in his arms; a sob tears from his throat. It’s ugly and loud, carrying over the dying wind. The trees pick it up, and it echoes through the forest in a thousand unhuman voices. Adam grips his hair, tearing at the strands as if he can drag the memory from his mind somehow.

_“Too much magical energy in one place,” Ronan had said. What Ronan meant, the ley line was going into overdrive and the presence of a powerful magical entity was only throwing it off more. Storm was starting up in earnest now, thunder and rain, and the ground shaking under their feet. Adam called to reason, Ronan needed to leave. But the wave was spreading too fast, it would reach Henrietta in no time. It would destroy everything on its way and it would not stop there._

Phone vibrates in his pocket. Adam’s shaking hands fumble with it, dragging it out. Through eyes blurry with tears, he reads the name on the screen. As if burned, he flings the phone away. What is he supposed to say? How is he supposed to explain?

Still, he needs to tell them…

Adam turns to see where the phone had fallen – a mistake. He is met with dark blue eyes, staring listlessly at him. Adam screams.

_“I am sorry to ask for this,” Ronan’s voice was shaky. Finally, some emotions, Adam thought, relived. And then the meaning caught up to him._

_“No,” was barely a whisper on his lips. And then, stronger. And again, shaking his head, stepping away, trying to drop the knife – but Ronan’s hand was strong over his. He followed Adam, talking, explaining but Adam shook his head again, violently, trying to dispel this horrible dream. Trying to block out Ronan’s voice, asking…asking for the impossible._

_Adam was not strong enough for this. He thought he was tough, ready to face any challenge, any horror. He was so much stronger now, but this…Ronan was such a powerful thing, a force of nature. And not just his personality, Adam thought dumbly. His magic, greater than anything. It was a waterfall, compared to it, Adam’s abilities, given to him by Cabeswater, were merely a forest stream. Removing such a powerful element would bring things back into alignment, restore the balance, but this…but this…_

_Ronan’s lips pressed to his in a desperate kiss._

He is not breathing. Adam’s lungs feel tight and he can’t take a breath in. Tears are flooding his vision, his stomach is tied in knots. He watches a trail of blood, a small trickle going downhill to a pile of old rocks. It is almost black in the meager light but he could see shades of crimson emerge as the sky clears gradually. He looks at the hand, relaxed, dirt on the fingers and leather bracelets all tangled. Tentatively, Adam reaches out. He slides a fingertip under one of the leather bands, feeling its underside, soft from wear. They are cold. Just as the hand wearing them.

Adam is strangely fixated on that coldness. His eyes travel upwards, following the folds of the leather jacket to the dark ink of a tattoo peaking over the collar, to close shaved head, to Ronan’s face. Expressionless. Lifeless. Dead.

_Adam felt the press of a body against his own, so beautifully familiar. Warm and soft, the feeling startled a smile from him until he heard Ronan gasp. Pain flashed in his eyes. And something hot and unpleasant trickled down Adam’s wrist. He looked down and saw blood. Ronan’s blood._

_That was when the rustled screams filled the air._

_“It’s alright,” Ronan said._

Adam bites his lip until he tastes metal on his tongue. He jerks away, unable to bear the sight. Falls backwards, looks away and up at the clearing sky. Something glitters in the air, like a cloud of droplets reflecting the light. Except they do not fall to the ground, they hover over him, resolving into a shape he knows painfully well.

Adam’s gaze darts down to a body lying still on the ground and then back again to the shape hovering over him.

“It’s alright,” Ronan says again. He is smiling – the sight is so unbelievable to Adam, for a second he fears he had lost his mind. Ronan’s smile is tinted silver, his eyes are grey.

Adam thinks, this is what madness is.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a piece of a very rushed writing so if you spot some horrific mistakes don't hesitate to inform me. Also, obviously, very much made up magical explanantion here:)


End file.
